Council of Europe:

The Other European Organization

COE - Background
International

organization created by treaty

Began in 1949
Original members Belgium, Denmark,
France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK
Currently 45 members
All EU members and accession countries

Goals of the COE

Achieve

greater unity among its members

Safeguard the ideals and principles of their
common heritage
Defend human rights, parliamentary
democracy and the rule of law
Create a common legal space
Tools used include treaties, conventions,
and agreements

Major Policy Areas

Human

Rights
Animals
Bioethics
Cultural Affairs
Economic Affairs and Development
Environment
Social and Public Health

What the COE is Not

The

Council of Europe is NOT the EU

Separate, distinct organizations with
separate institutions
EU has 15 members, soon to be 25
COE has 45 members

Reasons for the Confusion

Council

of Europe
Parliamentary
Assembly
Strasbourg, France
European Court of
Human Rights
Same flag

European

Union

European Parliament
(formerly Parliamentary
Assembly)

Strasbourg,

France
European Court of
Justice

COE Institutional Structure

Committee

of Ministers
Parliamentary Assembly
European Court of Human Rights
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Committee of Ministers
Decision-making

and policymaking body

Composed of the foreign ministers of the
member countries
Meets 2 times per year; deputies monthly
Adopt treaties which are later ratified by the
member countries

Parliamentary Assembly
313

members (plus 313 alternates)

Appointed or elected from the parliaments of the
member countries
2 18 members per country, roughly proportional
to population
Advises the Committee of Ministers
4 plenary sessions per year
Has a committee structure
President and Secretary General

Congress of Local and

Regional Authorities
Two

chambers local and regional

313 members in each
Brings local democracy to COE activities
Advises the Committee of Ministers;
consultative body only

European Court of Human

Rights
Established

in 1959 pursuant to the European

Convention on Human Rights
Same number of judges as member countries;
more than one judge from single member
Elected by the Parliamentary Assembly
6 year terms
Decisions are binding on member countries, their
citizens, and their national courts

How Cases are Brought to the

Court
Previously

Human Rights Commission was

required to approve cases to go to the court
Beginning in 1999, individuals can file
applications
Court became full-time in 1999
As a result, the courts case load has increased
Lustig-Prean

(1999).

and Beckett v. United Kingdom

Major Publications
Activities

of the Council of Europe

Texts Adopted
(formerly Official Gazette of the Council of Europe)
European

Treaty Series / European Conventions

and Agreements
Human Rights Information Bulletin
Science and Technique of Democracy
Monographic series

Press

releases

European Court of Human

Rights Publications
HUDOCS

(Web database)
Reports of Judgments and Decisions
Decisions and Reports of the European
Commission for Human Rights (ceased 1999)
European Human Rights Reports (E. H. R. R.)
on LexisNexis Commercial/ Westlaw
Yearbook of the European Convention on Human
Rights

European Commission for

Democracy Through Law
Also

known as the Venice Commission

Goal: encourage development of democracy
in Central and Eastern Europe
Bulletin of Constitutional Case-Law
Summaries of constitutional court decisions

CODICES

database (web and CD)

Constitutional court decisions

Web Resources
Official

Web Site
http://www.coe.int/def
aultEN.asp
News

on front page
Institutions
A-Z Index

Statistics
COE

has limited statistical information

Demography, population studies
European Audiovisual Observatory
Criminology
Case law statistics

COE Blanket Order

Princeton

University Library has a blanket order

for all COE publications through Manhattan
Publishing (Voyager Order No. 78949)
http://www.manhattanpublishing.com/
Contact: Tom Johnson 914-271-5194
About $3500 per year
Exempt from Blanket Order
Pharmacopia
European Audiovisual Observatory
COE internal documents

COE Research Guides

University

of Georgia Law Library

http://www.llrx.com/features/coe.htm

Duke

University Law Library

http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/ResearchGuides/c

ouncilEurope/councilEurope.html

Why Should I Care?

Rich

source for European information

http://www.coe.int
Princeton owns most COE publications
In OPAC
NOT depository items

Major

policy areas

Human Rights
Cultural property, etc.

New Electronic Resources In

Law
LLMC

Digital
Index to House of Commons Parliamentary
Papers (1801 2002)
Hein Online
US Treaty Series plus others
United States Reports official reporter
Federal Register from volume 1

TIARA

treaties database